That Hummer! And Trans(portation) FAT

Fortunately for the planet, Hummers are no longer being manufactured. Let's remember that Hummers did NOT get as good mileage as the Model T of a hundred yerars ago.

McDonald's gave away toy Hummers -42 million of them, in eight models and colors - with every Happy Meal or Mighty Kids Meal. That's right: The fast-food chain that helped make our kids the fattest on Earth is now selling future car buyers on the fun of driving a supersized, smog-spewing, gas-guzzling SUV originally built for the military. Use the Ronald McHummer Sign-O-MaticTM to tell us what you think of this misguided marriage of two icons of American excess.

Supporting Hummers and Other Gas Guzzling Behemoths

"World military expenditure in 2006 is estimated at $1204 billion in
current prices. This represents an increase of 3.5 per cent in real terms
since 2005 and of 37 per cent over the 10-year period since 1997. Average
spending per capita has increased from $173 in 2005 to $177 in 2006 at
constant (2005) prices and exchange rates and to $184 at current prices.
World military expenditure is extremely unevenly distributed. In 2006 the
15 countries with the highest spending accounted for 83 per cent of the
total. The USA is responsible for 46 per cent of the world total,
distantly followed by the UK, France, Japan and China with 4-5 per cent
each."

In a world of "bling", the last thing a car is used for is getting from A
to B; it is a symbol of wealth, power and status, and a tool for enhancing
a person's sex life.

If we cannot naturally restrain the ways in which we attempt to show off,
because we want to attract the opposite sex, we need to take this into
account and to develop fair and robust ways of making up for our own
natural limitations and of taking carbon emissions out of the ways we
compete with each other.

We are not going to stop being competitive as a species, but this does not
mean we cannot foster co-operation and organise our social, economic and
political activities in ways that allow us to align short-term competitive
advantage with long-term sustainability."

Showing Off That HUMMER

Showing off in a HUMMER and/or other SUV behemoth is making this
statement:

"I don't care about you other humans or the planet or quality of life. I
only care about my meager and yet unsatisfied, puny ego."It is because of hogs like HUMMER drivers and other gas guzzling behemoths
that thousands of young Americans have died in Iraq, that thousands upon
thousands have been injured beyond repair, while countless more are
suffering every day from the horrors that they have inflicted on others
and that have been inflicted upon them. And hundreds of thousands of
Iraqis have been slaughtered so rich, arrogant, greedy, unthinking,
uncaring Americans can go wheeling about in their SUVs.

Disgusting doesn't even begin to describe how heinous this is.

In order to satisfy our oil hunger, the US spent 600 BILLION dollars last
year on war and the military - first in the world. Yet we rank 37th in
health care in the world. So arrogant people can drive SUVs and HUMMERS.

What 4 grand won't get you:

BTW, $4060 won't get your a heart transplant:

Triggering heart disease more than any other fat is trans fat, which can be found in most fast foods. This makes eating out a potential hazard to the heart. This is due to the fact that most fast food chain restaurants fry their foods with a leading source of trans fat, otherwise known as the artery clogging partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (PHO).

Most Americans' trans fat intake stems from PHO. At one time, trans fat was considered to be safer than saturated fat, however that theory quickly changed as it proved to negatively affect blood cholesterol levels. Some of the dangerous consequences related to trans fat is that it not only raises bad cholesterol, LDL, but it lowers good cholesterol, HDL. For these reasons, trans fat can be held accountable for the tens of thousands of deaths last year caused by heart attacks.

Fast food giant, McDonald's, promised to eliminate their use of PHO by creating a cooking oil with less trans fat. They claimed it was one step closer to cutting trans fat altogether.

McDonald's lovers have yet to see that promise fulfilled.

Although McDonald's in Denmark have switched to healthier cooking oil, McDonald's in the United States have retracted from any such actions. In fact, McDonald's is being sued in California for misleading the public by not following through with their proposed actions. Members of the Center of Science and Public Interest group described McDonald's continual use of trans fat as "reckless and irresponsible."

Dietary guidelines state that only 1 percent of a person's daily calorie intake should come from trans fat. One small order of McDonald's French fries contains enough trans fat to fill a day and a half's worth.

In addition to McDonald's, fast food chains using PHO include:

* Burger King
* Wendy's
* Applebee's
* Krispy Kreme

It is not illegal for the restaurants to use PHO, however, new labeling rules are pushing manufacturers of processed foods in the direction of switching to less harmful oils. Those fighting against the use of PHO hope to gain some ground by asking the FDA to require restaurants using PHO to make it known by printing it in their menus or on their signs.

Definition of trans fat
Trans fat is a specific type of fat formed when liquid fats are made into solid fats by the addition of hydrogen atoms, in a process strangely enough known as hydrogenation. That being said, small amounts of trans fats are found naturally in certain animal based foods. Trans fat was originally added to foods to increase the shelf life. Trans fat does not stand for "Transformed fat" (except maybe in the mind of someone trying to market this), but comes from the fact that the hydrogen atoms in the double bond are actually across from each other (See image). This comes from the Latin meaning of trans, which is across.

"Disclaimer: FDA is issuing this document as general information for the public. FDA intends this document to aid the public in understanding how to use the declaration of trans fatty acids in the nutrition label of conventional foods and dietary supplements."

What does this MEAN?

It means that when you eat trans fats, no matter the source, you are eating fats that are liquid at a higher temperature than your body. When you eat them these fats coagulate in your body, such as your arteries and heart, and clog them up. McDonald's fries as in "SuperSize Me" will give you more than enough of these.